On starting DuRocher in the second half: "Really we made that decision in the second quarter, but the timing of the game didn't allow it to take place. At the half we decided we would stay with it and he started the third quarter. I always say that we will make all the decisions to put us in the best position to win. At that time the way the game was going and what was taking place that was the decision to make."

On the offense in general: "Obviously, offensively we didn't do enough things to win today. It's disappointing, because our defense gave us what I think was a great effort. They held them -- a team that had been moving the ball extremely well all year and against almost every team that they had played. We found a way even on the short fields that we placed our defense in to keep them out of the end zone. We just didn't do enough offense to match and have a total team effort."

On who will be starting against Arizona: "You guys need more to write about than that. We will keep you in suspense until the end of the week."

On the weather's impact on the offense in the game: "Neither team did a whole lot offensively, so you might say that there was something there. I don't think so; our biggest problem was that we didn't execute the basics, the blocking, the catching, and the things that you have to do. We didn't do that, that is what I think our problem is, and of course I can go back and look at it but it will probably bear it self out tomorrow."

On edge pressure from Oregon St.'s defense: "It always depends on the play, we have seen edge pressure all year, that is nothing unique to us, we just did not handle it."

On injuries occurred in the game: "We have some young men that will be fairly serious for the remainder of the season. I am not sure about their status. Lobendahn will be one of those, Russo I will have to look at, Benjamin came back, those are the major ones."

On the secondary: "I thought for the most part, that our secondary did a good job. We stayed with them, which I think no one really else has done this year. We gave them a few things in front of us but for the most part our guys played pretty well. There may be that question about the elements coming into play, there were a few drops that they had that just slipped through, that may have been a factor."

On if he is looking for improvement in each game: "I am not looking for an improvement, I am looking for a win. Make sure we are clear on that. I love improvement if it leads to a win, but we are looking to win. Other stuff doesn't excite me."

On overall effort: "I think we gave 60 minutes of effort, but we didn't have 60 minutes of execution. Because if we do a couple things right in there, we've got some big pays in there, but we didn't do that. I told our football team I loved the way that they fought. They never gave up, they kept on trying, that is what I expect from a football team and that is what they should expect from each other."

On what he told Stanback when he started DuRocher in the second half: "I told him to be ready because a situation might happen where he needs to come back into play."

On Oregon St.'s ability to stop the run: "I think that was one of the things that depended on some of our back field formations. We anticipated that, because remember that this was a team that was second in the league in rush defense. So we knew that coming in and we knew that there would be involvement from them with their safeties, and which they did. And we knew that we had to get some shots over the top of their safeties."

On the changing of quarterbacks: "We told our quarterbacks that we look at them just like any other position. We know that it is slightly different; you can't exactly qualify that position like that. But if their performance is not to a certain level and we think that it is in the best interest of the football team, we will make a change, and our guys understand that. Same thing goes for anybody who is at quarterback, it is always team first."

On if the team's morale is getting worse as the losses keep piling up: "I think that the team demonstrated with their effort today that that is not the case. I think that the way that they came out and fought demonstrates that they came in here prepared to give their best effort."

Washington Players

TAILBACK JAMES SIMS
General Comments: "Their defense came after our offense a lot. They pressured us big time. They blitzed us--I mean some series they blitzed us each down. They put a lot of pressure on the passing and the running game."

About the not being able to run the ball well against their defense: "It was definitely frustrating. It felt like whenever we attempted to run the ball, or hit someone in the backfield, their defense was there. It got really frustrating at one point."

About their running defense: "We knew they had a good run defense. A lot of teams try to pass on them, but going into the game we wanted to establish a running game, for it could open up other options for us. But their defense played really hard."

QUARTERBACK JOHHNY DuROCHER
General Comments: "It was dissappointing. We had a good week of practice. We just didn't get the job done. we stuck it out, and kept fighting."

On coming into his own out on the field: "Yeah, I felt more comfortable out there. I finally got a full half under my belt. I mean we started to move the ball towards the end of the game, but it was a little bit too late."

On if he was struggling or not: "I don't think I was really struggling out there. I knew this kind of situation where it was a downpour out there, and I knew before going out there by watching Isaiah and Matt Moore, that the balls were wet, and it was difficult, but in any situation like that, you just have to keep going at it."

WIDE RECEIVER Craig Chambers
General Comments: "We had a lot of good plays on defense. They only socred 18, so we were able to hold them isx times. We have to give our defense a lot of credit for not letting them get into the endzone. It was a different game on the offensive side. We couldn't really capitalize. And on my part, I caught some catches, and I also dropped some, and I have to make those plays."

On OSU's secondary: "It was just bail coverage. That is what I thought about the game. It is hard to throw a fade against the bail coverage. We were trowing a lot of short passes, which kind of helps against it, but throwing fades doesn't really work."

On his out-of-bounds catch in the endzone: "I thought I was in. I thought I had my second foot in when I caught it, but I guess they thought different. And it gets you frustrated because when you are that close to the endzone, you want to score. But you can't think about it too much."

On the long reception in the first half: "The biggest thing I was worried about is if the ball was going to get intercepted, when the ball was in the air for that long. I mean everyone saw it, and I knew everyone would try to go for it. So the biggest thing for me was to come back and try to get the catch. But I knew that there weren't that many people around me, so I just wanted to try and catch it, and it happened to work out alright."

On the elements being a factor: "You have to concentrate more. When it is not raining, you could pre-determine your plays, but in this situation you have to really have to make sure you catch the ball. I mean it affects you a little bit."

STRONG SAFETY C.J. Wallace
On their defense: "This was most definitely our best game. We played four quarters and we didn't give them anything. We held them when they got into the red zone and the black zone."

On the improved secondary play: "We didn't make many adjustments. We just learned not to make the same mistakes twice. I thought we stepped up to the challenge. Our safeties played well and with confidence. Matt Fountain, Roy Lewis, they really held it down. Darin Harris stepped in and made some plays. I'm real proud of them."

LINEBACKER Evan Benjamin
On the weather dictating play: "It made a little bit of a difference. It made both teams keep the ball on the ground. It was harder for receivers to hold onto the ball so they kept the ball on the ground. We knew it was going to be a battle in the trenches."

On expecting to win when you hold the team out of the end zone: "You would expect to. Field goals are okay, but we want to hold them to no points. With conditions the way they were, we needed to force more turnovers. We forced one but we needed four or five."

On playing without Joe Lobendahn: "It was definitely tough. Tahj Bomar stepped up when a senior captain went down and he showed a lot of heart."

On if the defense has improved: "I think we've made leaps since the first game of the season against Air Force. We can still take satisfaction in improving even if the results aren't there."

On handling the mounting losses: "It's hard and you definitely don't want them to become routine. We've still got two winnable games left and we need another good week of practice to get ready for Arizona."

Oregon State Head Coach Mike Riley

General Comments: "It was great conditions. I thought it was fun. I really think that was a great challenge for a team and every team ought to get to do that in football once in a while, to have to deal with that. We had one fumble and I think when you look back on that football game, that was the difference in the game, the turnovers. I don't know how many they had but it gave us ample field goal opportunities. It was interesting conditions, I don't think it made the ball not throwable but after we got going in the game I thought the best things for us to do was take time off the clock and run the ball as much as possible and kick field goals when we could."

On winning at Husky Stadium: "Anytime you win in the Pac-10 it feels good. I think it's a big deal, regardless of anything, to come up here and win a football game. It's always good to win on the road, it's always good to beat the Huskies. It hasn't been done a lot by the Beavers over a long period of time. I'm very proud of this team and it puts us in an interesting position going into the last two games of the season."

On the kicking game: "I thought he (Alexis Serna) was awesome. He's a tough minded little guy, he's 11-for-11 I think in Husky Stadium for two years. He might want to make a living kicking up here but a very, very good performance today. I guess it was a Pac-10 record.

On the defense: "I like how our defense played. I thought we were aggressive and really never let them have any consistency in any one phase and every time they had something going I thought we made big stands, big hits. I thought the two linebackers, Trent Bray and Keith Ellison, were all over the place and we had a solid performance up front but it still starts with one basic ingredient when a team's having a rough time being consistent on the ground, that's a good foundation to play defense from right there."

On the Yvenson Bernard: "It's nice to have a good running back, again, that probably was a major factor in the game- the turnovers and then our ability to run the ball decently, not great. They came back and it was hard slugging for quite a while in there but we did hit a couple of big ones and I though it made a big difference in the game and again, I thought Yvenson played very well and the line did a nice job."

On how weather conditions affected play calling: "When he had time he was pretty sharp. They are very similar to us on defense, a lot of things schematically. We just didn't have the numbers to pick it up because they are all out on the routes. That's what happens when you get into second and long, you just tee up. The only balls that we really threw downfield were a couple of fades there in the second half. Part of the decision-making was the conditions, but I mostly wanted to have some low-risk passes either in the flat or deep. I really felt like if we could move the ball, take time off the clock and make our field goals that we were going to win."

On final two games: "We are 5-4 and we have two games left. We would love to win both of those games and obviously one more puts us in a bowl game. That is definitely our first big goal."

On going for it on fourth down in the first half: "I should have thrown it to Yvenson right away because he was open in the flats, but he ended up getting the first down anyway. That was in to the wind and it would have been a long field goal. If you miss that long field goal you give them good field position, so we went for it."

Oregon State Players

RUNNING BACK YVENSON BERNARD
On not scoring touchdowns: "Points are points. We're going to take whatever we can get to get a win."

On Washington's defensive front: "They came out playing today. We had an answer for them come late second quarter when we started finding out what their scheme was going to be."

On long run: "I thought I was going to make it. I'm mad at myself about that because it should have been a touchdown."

On adjusting to the weather conditions: "I was freezing in that first quarter and I was trying to see what I could do to warm up. With the weather, you can't think about it once you get on the field. ...Coming from Florida, I've seen rain, but not cold. I'm used to 70 degrees with rain for 20 minutes and then it's over. This was definitely the coldest that I've played in."

On rushing for 100 yards for the fourth consecutive game: "It doesn't really matter to me. I was rushing for 180 and we didn't get a win, so getting this win and being one win from becoming bowl eligible was nice."

On Serna: "We're not impressed, he's been doing that since last year. That's the guy that we go to when it's fourth down in the red zone."

PLACEKICKER ALEXIS SERNA
On setting Pac-10 records for field goals in a game: "It's always exciting just to get a `W' and get closer to that bowl game."

On kicking good at Husky Stadium two consecutive years: "It's great to be able to come out here and perform and do my job. My snapper and holder did a great job today and my line blocked well. I didn't feel any pressure, so I was really relaxed."

On being concerned with the weather before the game: "No, not at all. I knew that the ball was carrying more - towards the JumboTron it was carrying a little less than the other way. So I had to be conservative with my range going that way. ...At halftime I switched socks and shoes, so I was dry to begin the second half and it didn't come down that hard in the second half, so I was doing good."

LINEBACKER KEITH ELLISON
On the weather being a factor: "For us on defense it wasn't too much of a factor. It really didn't bother us. We were cold, but we really didn't have any problem with it. ...It was good for us because it make the ball slippery and hard to throw. So we were able to take advantage of it and force a couple of turnovers."

On catching the onside kick: "I've been a safety, so I have hands and can catch the ball. We practice that every week, so we're always prepared for it."

On the team's defense this season: "It's been a long, uphill battle all season to get this defense to the level that we're used to at Oregon State. We came out determined this week. After that Cal game and UCLA and Arizona, we didn't play very well, so we felt that we really needed to come out there and reestablish ourselves and show that we're improving. I think we did a good job today."

On the remaining schedule: "We're going to take the Stanford game first. Hopefully we can get a win this week and clinch that bowl eligibility. And then going into the Civil War we would have a two-game winning streak. That's the goal right now."

On Washington's inability to run the ball: "We wanted to force them to throw the ball. They're a little unsettled at quarterback and when you can make a team one-dimensional it plays into the defense's favor."

On the field's conditions being the worst he's seen: "The worst ever. Ever. I'm from LA, I've never been in anything less than 60 degrees. It was cold."